The Nonprofit World: a Statistical Portrait

August 9, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes

	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Number of organizations in the U.S. ¹	18,200,000	21,900,000	24,500,000	27,600,000	27,700,000
Nonprofit/tax-exempt organizations ²	1,180,000	1,285,000	1,426,000	1,586,000	1,626,000
Percentage of total organizations in the U.S.	6.5%	5.9%	5.8%	5.8%	5.8%
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Independent-sector organizations ³	793,000	907,000	1,030,000	1,190,000	1,230,000
Percentage of total organizations in the U.S.	4.4%	4.1%	4.2%	4.3%	4.4%
501(c)(3) organizations	322,000	422,000	546,000	693,000	734,000
501(c)(4) organizations	132,000	139,000	143,000	142,000	140,000
Religious congregations	339,000	346,000	341,000	353,000	354,000
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Other tax-exempt organizationsv	387,000	378,000	396,000	398,000	399,000
National income (including value of volunteer time)	$2,700,000,000,000	$3,800,000,000,000	$5,200,000,000,000	$6,900,000,000,000	$7,300,000,000,000
Percentage attributed to nonprofit organizations	6.4%	6.5%	6.8%	6.7%	6.7%
Percentage attributed to the independent sector	5.8%	5.7%	6.3%	6.1%	6.1%
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Total independent sector revenues	$211,900,000,000	$316,700,000,000	$508,500,000,000	$664,800,000,000	n/a
Private contributions	21.8%	22.9%	18.4%	19.9%	n/a
Dues, fees, and charges	38.7%	40.8%	39.1%	37.5%	n/a
Government	28.1%	27.9%	31.3%	31.3%	n/a
Other revenue	11.4%	8.4%	11.1%	11.4%	n/a
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Total operating expenditures by subsector	$172,300,000,000	$272,700,000,000	$435,800,000,000	$551,600,000,000	n/a
Arts and cultural organizations	1.9%	1.9%	1.8%	2.2%	n/a
Civic, social, and fraternal organizations	3.3%	3.2%	3.1%	3.0%	n/a
Education and research organizations	23.5%	22.8%	19.4%	18.3%	n/a
Foundations	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%	0.9%	n/a
Health services	51.4%	50.3%	54.5%	53.9%	n/a
Religious organizations	9.3%	11.0%	9.4%	9.7%	n/a
Social and legal services	9.8%	10.1%	11.1%	12.0%	n/a
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Total U.S. paid and voluntary employment	113,700,000	129,700,000	137,400,000	150,600,000	153,600,000
Paid employees (full- and part-time)	97,800,000	110,800,000	118,100,000	130,600,000	133,900,000
Self-employed ⁴	8,900,000	9,700,000	10,000,000	10,500,000	10,200,000
Volunteers (full-time equivalent) ⁵	7,000,000	9,200,000	9,200,000	9,400,000	9,400,000
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Independent-sector employment	11,000,000	12,500,000	14,600,000	16,300,000	16,600,000
Paid employees (full- and part-time)	6,500,000	7,400,000	9,100,000	10,600,000	10,900,000
Volunteers (full-time equivalent)	4,500,000	5,100,000	5,500,000	5,700,000	5,700,000
As a percentage of total U.S. employment	9.7%	9.6%	10.6%	10.9%	10.8%
Paid employees (full- and part-time)	5.8%	5.7%	6.6%	7.1%	7.1%
Volunteers (full-time equivalent)	3.9%	3.9%	4.0%	3.8%	3.7%
Paid independent sector employment, by field
	1982	1987	1992	1997	1998
Arts and cultural organizations	1.4%	1.6%	1.8%	1.9%	1.9%
Civic, social, and fraternal organizations	4.7%	5.0%	4.6%	4.2%	4.2%
Education and research organizations	22.1%	22.5%	20.6%	21.6%	21.6%
Foundations	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%
Health services	47.0%	45.6%	46.6%	43.5%	42.9%
Religious organizations	10.6%	8.8%	10.5%	11.4%	11.6%
Social and legal services	14.1%	16.2%	15.6%	17.2%	17.5%
1. Total number of organizations includes all businesses, tax-exempt organizations, and governmental entities. 2. Nonprofit organizations include all tax-exempt organizations approved by the Internal Revenue Service. 3. Independent-sector organizations consist solely of 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and religious congregations. 4. Consists of active proprietors or partners who devote a majority of their working hours to their unincorporated business. 5. For volunteers (including those who work for a family business), full-time equivalent is based on total hours volunteered during the year, excluding hours volunteered informally (e.g., babysitting for no pay), divided by 1,700, which represents the typical number of hours worked in a year by a full-time employee.